Red Sox Wrap: Boston Bats Fall Short In Loss To Athletics

The Boston Red Sox could not get the bats going in the middle game of their series against the Oakland Athletics in a 3-0 loss Tuesday night.

The Red Sox move to 51-45 while the Athletics move to 26-71.

You can check out the full box score here.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
The Red Sox went with a different-looking lineup as Rafael Devers, Adam Duvall (who later pinch-hit for Jarren Duran) and Connor Wong all had the night off.

The lineup could not find a rhythm against Oakland with the shuffled order. Luis Medina dealt 5 2/3 shutout innings for the Athletics, surrendering just three hits while striking out six.

Boston’s lineup scratched together only five hits against the Athletics. The game served as the outlying offensive performance of this month thus far for a unit that entered averaging 6.6 runs per game in July.

Boston previously scored 28 runs in the first four games of the season series against Oakland, recording a 4-0 record.

The Red Sox had not been shut out since June 29 at Fenway Park in a 2-0 loss to the Miami Marlins.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Chris Murphy served as the bulk reliever in Tuesday’s bullpen game. After Oakland posted three runs in the second inning, Murphy came in to limit the damage. In his longest outing in the majors, Murphy went 4 2/3 scoreless innings with just two hits allowed and six strikeouts.

— Masataka Yoshida kept his hot July rolling with a pair of doubles in his first two at-bats. Yoshida now has multiple hits in nine of his first 11 games to open the month.

— Oakland’s Ryan Noda got the scoring started in a big night at the plate. The first baseman went 2-for-4 with a home run in the win for the Athletics.

WAGER WATCH
Noda hit a solo home run off of Joe Jacques in the second inning for the first run of the game. Per FanDuel Sportsbook, Noda entered the night at +560 to hit a home run. A $100 wager hit for a $660 payout.

ON DECK AT NESN
The Red Sox and Athletics wrap up their three-game series Wednesday afternoon in Oakland. First pitch is scheduled for 3:37 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.